Trying This Again
by Ivorycat
Summary: Angel finally suceeds in saving the world and in doing so earns himself a reward. He gets a second chance at everything including a wife, little girl, and his humanity. But what happens when that could all get ripped from him? Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1 Second Chance

                                                TRYING 

                                                   THIS

                                                 AGAIN

NOTE: I don't own Angel or Buffy but I will gladly take position of them if Joss ever takes the big plunge.

A/N: I came up with this story talking to one of my friends. It just hit me in the head somehow. Anyway, here's the rundown. This takes place during the _should_ be season eight of Buffy and the fifth season of Angel. Angel finally succeeds in saving the world so he is given the chance of a lifetime and I don't just mean W&H law offices. You'll see. Well, please enjoy.

                                                          CHAPTER 1 

          Fire and devastation lay all around, the earth consumed by the flames and the destruction. It had all happened because of one thing, one being, one creature that was worse than any big bad anyone had ever come upon before.

          The beast was known as the Consumer, a creature who went from realm to realm feasting on children, even those unborn, managing to destroy all life in the process. Wesley had finally been able to track down a pattern of child murders, leading to the Consumer.

          Angel lay in the middle of the street, glass from a car window jammed into his leg. He held Fred in his lap as she bled excessively. Angel looked around, not at the devastation but at his friends. Gunn lay on the sidewalk, his neck snapped, Wesley's body had long burned when he was tossed into fire that spread across his body too fast to save him, and Cordelia had been stabbed to death by the Consumer's claws, the first to die. Only Angel and Fred were left and Fred barely hung on as she continued to bleed.

Angel held Fred close to him, ignoring the throbbing pain in his leg. "Fred, come on," he whispered gently to her. "We're going to get you some help."

Fred gasped for breath. "A-A-Angel, did we..." she trailed off in pain. "Did... we get... him?"

Angel couldn't bring himself to lie to her. "No, Fred, but I will. I won't let him hurt you, I swear."

Tears started to creep from Fred's eyes even though they were barely open. "I-I'm sorry, Angel." She sniffed. "I should have been more help to you."

"Fred, no," Angel said gently. "You've been with me this long, hanging on. I won't let anything happen to you."

"I... I'm not going to live, am I?"  
  
"Yes, you are!" Angel answered her firmly. "Fred, you're going to live, it's that simple! I said I wouldn't let anything happen to you and I won't."

"I'll miss you, Angel," Fred continued to cry. "I'll never forget you. You, the others, you'll always be a part of me." Fred gasped her last breath as she said, "I love you all." She closed her eyes, never to open again.

Angel panicked. "No... no... Fred! Fred, wake up." Angel began to shake her limp body but soon found it was no lose. "F-Fred..." Tears formed in his eyes and took no time pouring out. "He did this to you... he did! Oh, God, Fred, I'm sorry. I couldn't keep you safe." Angel looked around at his lifeless friends. "I couldn't keep any of you safe. I failed you.. I'm so sorry." Angel cried into Fred's body, loud sobs of sorrow.

The Consumer approached then, a large, creature with black skin, only seen in nightmares. 

Angel looked up, anger flashing in his eyes. He picked up the sword the lay next to him, gently placing Fred's body aside, and slowly stood, despite the pain in his leg. He and the Consumer stared each other down, two enemies, both with one purpose, to destroy. It was vampire against the beast, the final battle. If Angel won the world had a chance, if not then everything, every man, woman, and child would cease to exist.

With a deep breath Angel leapt into the air with a lighting fast motion, took one swipe of his sword, and the Consumer's head was instantly chopped off, causing the body to fall to pieces, dead. Despite his vampire agility, Angel crashed to the floor, his leg worse now. He knew it would only be a matter of time before he joined his friends. The vampire closed his eyes, allowing the fire around him to take hold of his body, his very name seemed to echo in the air as he was consumed in fire.

"Angel... Angel..." Angel's eyes shot open suddenly. He found himself staring into the worried eyes of Buffy. "Angel, what happened to you?"

          Angel, completely speechless, looked around his area. He was no longer in the middle of the street but in a graveyard, resting up against a tombstone. He looked towards his leg, which had no cut, no bleeding, in fact, it was completely healed.

"God, what happened to you?" Buffy asked. "You completely napped  on me."

Angel slowly stood up, his eyes fixed on the slayer. "B-B-Buffy?"

Buffy raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah," she replied as if she was desperate to say the word duh. "Remember me? Buffy Anne Angel, your wife?"

Angel's eyes widened. "_Wife_?" He didn't know how to make sense of any of it. "What are you talking about? Where are Fred, Gunn, Cordy, and Wesley?"

Buffy couldn't believe him. "Man, you did hit your head hard." She took hold of his arms and began to guide him away from the cemetery. "Thanks God I handled all the vamps, no thanks to you, before you woke up all dopey and such."

Angel didn't know what to do so just allowed himself to be directed by Buffy. The duo ended up at a large, old New England looking home where Buffy proceeded to unlock the door. They both entered, Angel looked around confused.

Buffy hung her keys up and turned to him. "Maybe you should lie down for..." she trailed off, watching him glance around, a perplex on his face. "A very, _very_ long time."

          Buffy went into towards the kitchen and Angel quickly followed still gazing about. Buffy went to the freezer and pulled out a tray of ice and took an ice pack out from the cupboard above the sink that she had left there one day and proceeded to put the cold ice into the pack.

Angel slowly sat down at the table. "Buffy, what happened? Where am I? What are you doing in LA?"

Buffy gave him a funny look. "Cute, Angel. We're in _Sunnydale_. Remember that? Evil place with the big, scary hellmouth that goes from opened to closed, closed to open? It's like one of those hellish open sesame things."

Angel stared at her. "No... this isn't right. I'm not supposed to be here and where are Fred, Gunn, and the others?"

"Angel, stop it already!" Buffy suddenly shouted. "This is getting less cute so knock it off." She went up and sat the ice pack on top of his head. "Since when can a vampire take you down that hard? He barely touched you and then you're all out of it for like fifteen minutes, leaving me to fight on my own. Good to know we're a team in this marriage."

"What marriage? Buffy, I left Sunnydale a long time ago to go to LA."

Buffy held his ice pack on his head. "Yeah, I know that. But you also came _back_ a long time ago." She left the pack on his head. "I'm gonna tell Giles we're here and check on Rachel." Buffy headed out.

"Rachel? Who's Rachel?" Angel asked, holding the ice pack on his head.

Buffy turned back to him, an annoyed look on her face. "Our five-year-old daughter? Well, almost five. Her birthday is tomorrow."

Angel shot up from his seat. "Wife, daughter, birthday?" He began to storm out of the room, going straight upstairs.

"Angel!" Buffy called, going after him.

Angel shut the door to the bathroom. He turned on the cold water in the sink and began to splash himself in the face with it. What was going on? When Angel looked up again he saw what looked like an image of Darla in the mirror. Angel spun around and, indeed, saw Darla.

"Hello, lover," she smiled at him. "Former lover, anyway."

"What are you doing here?" Angel asked quietly. "More importantly, what am _I_ doing here?"

"Why, Angel, don't you recognize your own home, wife, and, pretty much, life?"

Angel was bewildered. "Talk to me! What is going on?"

"Calm down, my dear," Darla soothed. "They only wanted to make you happy. After all you are the big hero of the entire planet. Don't you think you deserve it?"

"Deserve what?" Angel shouted.

"God, calm down. The powers that be only wanted to give you a little thank you. You were all nice like and everything what with saving everyone's ass and all."

"I don't understand."

Darla sighed. "This is your gift, Angel. You've done so much good that saving the world was just the cherry on top. You were granted your greatest desires. Your friends live on, you have your humanity, in a vampire-ish kind of way, you even have your little soul mate, Buffy."

Angel nearly fell up against the sink. He couldn't believe it. "Are you saying...?"

"It's over, Angel," Darla supplied. "Your struggle to find humanity... it's over. You have it."

Angel realized something then and glanced around. "How did I know where this bathroom was?"

"It's a part of it all. The time will come _soon_ when you will remember all of this and nothing of yours friends' deaths. Kinda cool, isn't it?"

"I... but why? Why do I deserve it all?"

"You saved the world didn't you? I think that's entitled to a little reward." Darla turned away from him and seemed to fade off, away from him.

Angel blinked his eyes and slowly exited the bathroom, bumping into Buffy.

She glared at him. "There you are. What's wrong with you?"

Angel thought for a minute. "Nothing. I, uh... how is Rachel?"

"She's fine. I just sent Giles home."

Angel nodded. "Why don't I go check on her?" 

He speeded off towards the little girl's room, finding that he knew exactly which room it was. Angel saw a little girl with dark brown hair, snuggled in bed, her night-light burning brightly. Angel slowly went over to her. She looked so peaceful, sleeping happily. The vampire found himself reaching out to her and stroking her hair gently. Was all of this real or just some sort of... wonderful dream?

A/N: Well, let's hope this isn't just a wonderful dream because that would suck big time. Please review.


	2. Chapter 2 Happy Birthday

 TRYING 

                                                    THIS

                                                 AGAIN

NOTE: I don't own Angel or Buffy but I will gladly take position of them if Joss ever takes the big plunge.

A/N: I came up with this story talking to one of my friends. It just hit me in the head somehow. Anyway, here's the rundown. This takes place during the _should_ be season eight of Buffy and the fifth season of Angel. Angel finally succeeds in saving the world so he is given the chance of a lifetime and I don't just mean W&H law offices. You'll see. Well, please enjoy.

Warning: Major cuteness in this chapter.

                                                        CHAPTER 2 
    
                Angel woke up to complete warmth the next morning and what sounded like chirping birds. He cracked one eye open and then the other before slowly looking around, forgetting for a moment everything that had happened the previous night until it shot him like a bullet to his head. Angel looked next to him at a happily sleeping Buffy.

When the slayer's hazel eyes finally opened she realized that Angel was staring at her. "Hey," she smiled softly. "You feeling any better?"

Angel thought about it and just decided to go along with everything, at least for a while. "Yeah. I feel... good."

Buffy kept her smile as she got out of bed to change her clothes.

          Angel glanced around the room, as he hadn't gotten a very good look at it the previous night. Angel rested in a large sleigh bed with a navy comforter and black sheets, the walls were paneled with a dark wood, there were two medium sized dressers, more than like one for him and the other for Buffy, and three windows, all with thin blue curtains, the sun shining brightly through them.

          He climbed out of the bed and wondered over to the windows, pulling back a curtain from the middle one. The sun's light glowed brightly on his complexion, a sensational rush running through him.

"Angel." The vampire was taken away from his moment by Buffy's voice. "Come on. Pick out what you're going to wear. You cannot make your own daughter late for her birthday party."

Angel nodded as Buffy left the room in search of a shower.

          Angel wondered over to his dresser, knowing which one it was, and looked through it. He finally decided on a pair of dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt that looked tight enough to hug his skin.

          When Angel wondered out of his room he waited outside of the bathroom that he heard running water coming from. The door soon opened, revealing Buffy clad in a short jean skirt and a red blouse that showed off her shoulders. Her blonde curls went pass her shoulders.

"Well, look who finally came out of the land of the dead," Buffy smirked at him. Angel smiled softly. "Now change while I go see if Rachel is awake."

"OK," Angel dipped his head. As Buffy headed for Rachel's door Angel called after her. "Hey, Buffy?" She turned back to him. "I...um... you look so beautiful," he finally smiled.

Buffy kept her smirk as she touched Rachel's doorknob. "Don't even try the sweet talk thing." She opened the door, going inside.

          Angel spent a while in the shower and took his time changing into the outfit that he'd picked out. When he exited the bathroom Buffy rushed up to him, glancing at her watch.

"Angel, we better make with the speed," she said. "The others are going to be at the magic charm soon."

Angel raised an eyebrow. "The what?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and put her hands to her hips. "Here we go again with the amnesia. Angel, the magic charm is our business," Buffy explained as if she were talking to mental patient. "You know. People phone in with calls, we save their lives for, in Anya's words, a small monetary fee, and then we sell them shiny, magic like things. You all up to date now?"

Angel nodded slowly. "Yeah. Uh, thanks."

Buffy stared at him suspiciously. "I think _I'll_ drive. Now get Rachel, please." She buzzed downstairs.

          Angel watched her go then proceeded into Rachel's bedroom. He looked around at the white walls with pink throw rugs on the floor, stuffed animals everywhere, including the dresser, a few in the one large window, and some on the floor. An adorable little girl with brown hair sat on a pink and white twin bed, holding a rag doll in her arms. Angel slowly went over and sat next to her.

"Hey, Rachel," he smiled at her. "Um, you ready to have fun?"

Rachel looked up at him and shook her head. "No."

"Oh? Why not?" Rachel stayed quiet. Angel found himself pulling the child into his lap and holding her closely. "Don't you want to tell me why?

Rachel looked up at him again, revealing a pair of hazel eyes. "Daddy, am I pretty?"

          Angel stared at her like she was insane. The child was so adorable that he just wanted to keep her in the position forever, never moving. She looked a lot like Buffy, especially in the eyes but she also held a few of Angel's features as well. Rachel definitely had his brown hair even though hers wasn't gelled and styled.

"You're beautiful," Angel finally told her.

"But I don't feel beautiful," Rachel sulked.

"Why don't you?" Angel asked softly.

"I don't know. I just don't. Is that bad?" Rachel looked at him seriously.

"No, it's not bad," Angel answered. He lifted her up and brought her to her child like vanity mirror, sitting her down. "What do you see, Rachel?"

Rachel stared at hers and Angel's reflections. "A yucky girl."

"No," Angel told her, stretching the word. He knelt down to her chair. "You wanna know what I see?" Rachel nodded. "I see a beautiful little girl in a hello kitty shirt and jeans." The girl giggled a little. "Oh, and there's a smile that's almost as beautiful as she is." Angel looked her in the eyes. "That's what I see."

Rachel hugged him around the neck. "Thanks, Daddy."

          Angel slowly hugged her back but as he held her he relaxed and found it very natural. Daddy, that one word had changed so much. Angel suddenly felt new emotions and what seemed like memories flowing into his mind and it felt... wonderful.

Angel finally pulled back from the hug and looked at her. "_Now_ are you ready for fun?"

"Yeah," Rachel replied now enthusiastic. "Let's do it!" 

Angel smiled and raised her up, carrying her downstairs.

          As Buffy drove along Angel took the time to take in the sites leading away from their home, realizing that he actually knew some of them. When Buffy finally stopped the car it was in front of a medium sized building with the following words printed on the window in red letters: The Magic Charm. Beneath it Angel read what was printed under the sign as well.

"Hey, Buffy, does that say you bring us the charm, we give you the magic?" Angel asked his wife.

"Yeah," Buffy replied, opening Rachel's backseat door. "Fred and Willow's idea."

"Fred..." Angel nearly gasped her name.

          Buffy led the way inside, Rachel right behind her, and Angel coming up the rear. When they got inside good the threesome saw Fred, Gunn, Wesley, Giles, Xander, Cordelia, Willow, Anya, Spike, and a little girl about Rachel's age all grouped up. Above them, on a staircase was a large sign reading Happy B-Day, Rachel.

"Happy birthday," they all exclaimed at once, some more enthusiastic than others.

Rachel practically burst with delight.

The other little girl, who had light brown skin, and black hair walked up to Rachel, carrying a small box. "Here." She handed Rachel the box. "Happy birthday, Rachel."

"Thanks, Natalie," Rachel squealed, giving her a little hug.

Angel looked down at the unknown child. "Who is that?" he whispered to Buffy.

Buffy gave him a little glare. "Natalie, Gunn and Fred's four-year-old daughter?"

Angel couldn't believe it. "Gunn and Fred have a..." He peered over at Fred and suddenly rushed up to her, hugging her. "Oh, Fred, thank God you're OK!"

Fred hugged him back, confused. "Um, thanks, Angel."

Angel seemed to hug Gunn and Wesley at the same times. "Guys, it's so good to see you. I thought you were dead."

Gunn and Wesley shared a confused look as Angel let go of them.

"Dead..." Gunn nodded. "Yeah, sure, Angel." He suddenly laughed.

Wesley snickered as well. "I think you've been slipping into the ale again, mate."

Buffy walked up then. "You'll have to excuse him. He got hit hard last night and he's still a little loopy in the head. You know more so than usual."

"Guys," Angel said to Fred, Gunn, and Wesley. "We need to talk. We—"

Lorne walked out of a back room then, dusting off his gold, linen suit then looked around at the others, spotting Rachel. "Oh," he groaned. "I missed it? One potty break and you miss out on everything."

"That's OK, Uncle Lorne," Rachel smiled, walking up to him.

"Hey." Lorne lifted her up. "Happy birthday, Chelly," he said, using the girl's nickname.

"Lorne," Angel smiled. "You made it, too."

"Of course I made it, Angel cakes," Lorne said then turned back to the little girl he held. "I wouldn't miss little Chelly's birthday for all the gigs in Vegas."

Angel shook his head. "No. That's not what I mean."
    
            Before Angel could say another word the door opened, revealing a short teenaged girl with a long, brown ponytail. She wore a black and red t-shirt with a pair of dark jeans, and a pair of pristine white tennis shoes, a pair of headphones about her neck, blasting her music.

"OK, here I am," she announced herself, boredom registered in her voice.

"Late enough," Wesley grumbled, shooting a look of pure aggravation at the girl.

"Wes, don't start," Willow said to him, putting a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"What's going on?" Angel asked, once again to Buffy.

"Leah showed up late again," Buffy answered.

Angel still looked confused. "Who is she?"

Buffy looked at him. "How long were you out of it last night? She's Leah! You know Willow and Wesley's daughter, age thirteen."

"Wait. Willow and Wesley—" Angel started.

"Yeah. They did the marriage thing, too. Just like you, me, Fred, and Gunn. Oh, and Xander and Cordelia."

Angel stared at her in disbelief. "Xander and Cordelia are _married_?"

Buffy felt his forehead. "We're checking your temperature after the party."

          Soon everyone's attention was dragged away from Angel's foolishness as Rachel's large chocolate birthday cake was wheeled out. It had five tall candles stuck on top of it, all of them burning brightly. They all sang the usual birthday song when the cake came out.

"Bet you can't blow 'em all out," Natalie said to Rachel.

"Yes, I can," Rachel shot back.

"Nuh uh!" Natalie continued.

"Yeah huh!" said Rachel.

"No, you can't!" Gunn hauled up Natalie then.

"Let's see her in action," Gunn said, giving his four-year-old a firm look.

Rachel, in one breath, blew the candles out instantly, getting a round of applause from everyone in the room. She shot a smug look at Natalie. Soon they were all sitting around the furniture they had on the first floor, eating cake.

Rachel looked over at Buffy from where she sat, in a mini throne Xander had built her. She wore a small paper crown on her head that Fred had made. "Mommy?" Rachel asked. "Can I open the presents now?"  
  
"Sure," Buffy smiled at her from where she sat next to Angel.

Cordelia indulged in the cake she ate. "I need more," she told the room.

Xander sat on the arm of Cordelia's armchair. "That's your third slice. Don't you think you've had enough?"

Cordelia gave him a glare. "Watch it, super boy. It's enough you did _this_ to me," she said, rubbing her chubby stomach.

Angel stared at her belly. "Cordy, you're pregnant?"

"Duh," Cordelia replied crossly. "What else am I gonna be, naked?" She shot Xander another glare. "That's not a very good image of me anymore, is it?"

Xander got up and headed towards the table. "I'm gonna get you some more cake."

Cordelia smiled triumphantly. "Oh, hey." She reached next to the armchair and picked up a box wrapped in red wrapping paper. "Open mine first, Rachel."

Rachel nodded and went over to get the box, silently dreading it, knowing it would probably be clothes instead of anything fun. She tore apart the paper and opened the box lid and, indeed, it was an outfit from Kids Gap.

"Thanks, Aunt Cordy," Rachel forced a smile.

Buffy detected her daughter's disappoint and was proud of her for not whining over the gift.

          When the gifts were all distributed Rachel ended up getting a pair of roller blades from Xander, a telescope from Fred, a doll from Gunn, a little leather jacket from Spike, a guide to business for dummies from Anya, a doll house from Willow, a mini microphone and tape recorder from Lorne, a set of children's story books from Wesley, a Barbie from Natalie, a hello kitty plush from Leah, and a new bicycle with training wheels from her parents.

Rachel sat on her new bike, hugging her doll from Willow, and wearing the jacket Spike had bought her. "These were the best presents," she told the room.

"You haven't opened mine, yet." Rachel looked up and saw Giles, who handed her a small box.

Rachel opened it and saw a charm bracelet inside. "Wow. It's pretty!" she squealed, slipping it on. She hugged Giles around the legs. "Thanks, Pop," Rachel said, using her nickname for him.

"You're welcome," Giles smiled, patting her head.

Spike pulled Rachel over to her and examined the jacket. "Looks nice on you, pet."

Rachel sat on his lap and flashed the bracelet in front of him. "Look. It has tiny crosses."

Spike quickly sat her hand down. "Yes, that's nice." He looked at her jacket again. "You know I wanted to get you the little motorcycle to go along with this."

"Spike," Buffy stretched his name disapprovingly.

Spike looked over at her. "What? She'd ride great on it."

Anya picked up the business guide she had bought Rachel off the table and handed it to her. "Now you take care of this and maybe one day you, too, can buy stock."

Rachel looked at the book skeptically. "Uh... OK, Aunt Anya."

Leah went over to where Wesley in Willow sat on a different couch. "OK," she whispered to them. "I had cake, I left a gift so can I go?" She slipped her headphones back around her ears.

"Why?" Willow asked her.

"Because, as cute and stuff as this is I'd rather be watching MTV," Leah told her.

"You know you _did_ show up late," Wesley hissed at her. "The least you could do is stay a while."

"But, Dad—" Leah started then got cut off by a glare from Wesley. "Fine." She turned, walked off, and sat down grumpily in a chair. She turned her music up just a little louder.

"Xander?" Cordelia said sweetly. He looked at her. "I think baby wants more ice cream."

Xander groaned. "Again, Cordy?" Cordelia just patted her stomach and looked at him. "Fine." Xander stood up and grabbed his coat, leaving out in search of the nearest store.

Natalie sat in Fred's lap, looking at the Barbie she had bought Rachel for her birthday. "Can I get all these presents when I'm five?" she asked.

"Of course, honey," Fred smiled, stroking her hair.

"If you're good like Rachel," Gunn added slyly.

Natalie stuck her tongue out at him and Gunn did the same.

          Rachel watched Lorne play with her mini microphone and giggled. She went over and squeezed in between Angel and Buffy on the couch they sat on, still watching Lorne do a solo to Elvis.

Buffy put an arm around Rachel. "You having fun?" she asked.

"Yep," Rachel replied happily then looked at Angel. "Daddy, Pop got me a bracelet." She showed it to him. "Isn't it pretty?"

"Not as pretty as you," Angel said, tickling the tip of her nose.

          Angel looked around at everyone, talking, and smiling, and some, mainly Cordelia, still eating cake. It was a nice picture to behold and Angel wished he had a camera just for the moment. If this was a reward then he would try to earn them more often.

A/N: Fluff, fluff, fluff galore. You guys have to know that I love that stuff. Anyway, I'd like to thank Pyro Bear for giving me a helping hand with this. Please review.


	3. Chapter 3 Ooh, Sparkly

TRYING 

                                                    THIS

                                                 AGAIN

NOTE: I don't own Angel or Buffy but I will gladly take position of them if Joss ever takes the big plunge.

A/N: I came up with this story talking to one of my friends. It just hit me in the head somehow. Anyway, here's the rundown. This takes place during the _should_ be season eight of Buffy and the fifth season of Angel. Angel finally succeeds in saving the world so he is given the chance of a lifetime and I don't just mean W&H law offices. You'll see. Well, please enjoy.

                                                        CHAPTER 3 

          Over the next couple of days Angel began to remember more and more about his new life. Sometimes he even remembered things, like certain cases he had been on and a few memories of Rachel growing up. It all just seemed to slowly piece together, like a jigsaw puzzle.

          The following Friday after Rachel's party Angel and his family had just finished dinner so Angel had decided to slouch on the couch to watch some old movie. When he started to get into it Buffy entered followed by Rachel.

"Angel, I need to patrol," the slayer told him. "But I really think I'd like to keep _you_ away from the graveyard for a while. A really _long_ while so you get to hang out with Rachel tonight."

Angel looked up. "Sure." He turned to Rachel. "We're gonna have fun, right?"

Rachel bounced over to the couch and hopped onto it. "Yep!" she smiled in a cute little girl kind of way. "Lots of fun."

Buffy looked at Rachel skeptically, knowing that the little girl's idea of fun wasn't always a good thing. "Rachel, you're going to good for Daddy, right?"

Rachel nodded, making her brown hair bounce. "I promise."

"That's my girl," Buffy smiled softly at her. She grabbed a stake then. "So, then, I'll be back later. See you guys." Buffy left out then, half glad that the housewife bit was over for a while.

Rachel turned to her father and got on all fours like a dog, jumping on the couch. "What are we going to do, Daddy, huh?"

Angel smiled as he watched her go up and down. "Whatever you want to do."

Rachel crawled into his lap and started to bounce lightly. "I want to play vampire and _I_ get to be the vampire and eat everybody up."

Angel gave her a mock pout. "That's not very nice."

Rachel giggled. "Don't worry, Daddy. The blood is only cranberry juice, anyway." She made a face. "Yuck! Cranberry juice. I bet blood tastes better."

Angel gave her another smile but wanted to think of a way to distract her from vampire like games. "How about I teach you how to ride that new bike?"

"OK!" Rachel agreed enthusiastically, forgetting about her vampire game.

Angel stood from the couch, holding her in his arms. "But first Daddy needs a snack."

Rachel giggled as Angel carried her towards the kitchen.

          Natalie jumped around her house frantically making different noises as she usually did when she was bored and the child got bored quite easily. Fred sat at the table in the dining room trying to do some research. Natalie jumped around the table now making a growling sound.

Fred looked down at her, pretty amused by her antics, yet interrupted by the noise. "Nattie, honey, knock it off."

Natalie sat down at the table. "Why?"

"Mama's busy," Fred replied sweetly.

Natalie looked at the books that were scattered on the table and scowled. "Mama, this is boring," she said, stretching the bore half of the word.

Fred smiled. "Not to Mama."

Natalie rolled her eyes and climbed down from the chair, going back to her noises. Fred groaned, removing her glasses. She loved the little four-year-old but sometimes she could be more like a little pain. Before Fred could say anything about Natalie's noises the girl slapped into Gunn when she was going meow like a cat.

Gunn picked her up. "We're gonna play the quiet game now," he told her simply. "Got it?"

Natalie pouted very cutely. "I hate the quiet game."

"Mama hates the noisy game," Gunn pointed out.

Natalie folded her arms with more pouting. "Daddy..." she said with a groan in her voice.

"Nattie..." said Gunn with the same groan. "Why don't we go play in my room?"

Natalie considered it then nodded.

          As Gunn carried her towards the upstairs Fred shot him a thankful smile. Gunn winked in returned and went up with his daughter.

          A grumpy Leah sat at the desk in her bedroom, going over her books on Judaism, preparing for her bat mitzvah, which was coming up soon. She just couldn't understand it. Why was she stuck in her house while every other kid in the world was out participating in an activity known as fun? Leah knew exactly why, her father. He had practically ordered her to study for the bat mitzvah. Leah couldn't understand why he cared so much about it. He wasn't even Jewish.

          Leah finally stood from her desk and headed out of the room. She looked around the house, assuming that no one was home. She proceeded towards the front door, getting interrupted before she could even touch the knob.

"Going somewhere?" Leah looked over and saw Wesley standing in the living room.

Leah smiled weakly at him. "Hey. Yeah, I was going somewhere. I need to get to a library. I don't have a book I need."

"Really?' Wesley asked, removing his glasses curiously. "Which one would that be?"

Leah fidgeted a little. "Well, you know. It's the one where the people ran and they were like let my people go and then..." As she squirmed it looked like a great impression of Willow.

Wesley had to hide a smirk at his daughter's futile attempts to lie on the spot. "Nice try, sweetheart. Now get back to your room."

Leah rolled her eyes. "Dad, this is ridiculous. It's like you're punishing me and I don't like it. Can't I study for this stupid going into womanhood party later?" Wesley just gave her a look that she knew all too well. Leah folded her arms and formed a cross look on her face. "When is Mom getting home?"

"Later," Wesley replied simply.

"Well..." Leah could not really think of anything sharp to say. "I'm just gonna wait then." She spun around and headed back towards her room.

          Cordelia sat on the couch of hers and Xander's living room in their apartment. She coddled over a half of pint of chocolate ice cream, watching Xander fix a broken chair.

"You know, honey, you really should hire someone to do that for you," Cordelia said, interrupting him for the fourth time that night.

Xander sighed deeply. "Cordy, I _am_ that someone. Remember that? I'm the guy with the big, construction worker brain who doesn't need someone to fix all of his little problems?"

Cordelia shrugged, digging through the ice cream with her spoon. "Fine. But I really don't want our baby thinking that her father is just a regular clown in suspenders that goes around and fixes toilets."

Xander released another sigh then turned to her. "And here I thought we were going to teach _him_ the value of hard work." He went over and joined her on the couch.

"Well, _she_ doesn't need to learn that stuff until we get _her_ a brand new shiny credit card," Cordelia smiled proudly.

"Credit card?" Xander couldn't believe her, even if it was Cordelia. "Honey, _he_ isn't even born yet and you're already spoiling him?"

Cordelia shrugged again. "_She's_ worth it."

"Cordy—" Xander started.

"Ooh!" Cordy jumped, grabbing hold of her stomach.

Xander panicked. "Cordelia?" he nearly exclaimed. "Cordy, what is it?"

She looked at him and smiled wildly. "I felt a kick, her first kick."

Xander also smiled, ignoring the fact that she had called what he hoped was their little boy a girl again. "Wow."

Cordelia took hold of his wrist and gently guided his hand towards her belly. "You have to feel it."

Xander held his hand in place for a while until he felt a tiny bump against it. "He did it! He kicked."

Cordelia rubbed her stomach affectionately. "Hello, little baby!" she called to it.

"Hey," Xander also called. "This is your dad speaking!"

"More importantly, Mommy speaking!"

"Hey, hello, son!"

"Hi, daughter."

They continued on like that for a while.

          Spike sat alone in the living room of his apartment, in the comfy chair, watching an evening soap opera. The door unlocked then, revealing Anya, who obviously had a key. Spike knew who it was before she even entered the apartment.

"You know, I just don't understand it. I was with a costumer down at the magic charm a couple hours ago and he's like do you know where I can find the orb of Jaha. Then I was like I will be able to offer you this information using the text of a between covers manuscript." She saw that she wasn't getting an answer out of him. "A book. I meant a book."

"Hello, Anya," Spike greeted dryly, his head resting against his fist.

Anya went over and sat on the arm of his comfy chair. "Hello, Anya? That's all I get? Not even a lip to lip, spit exchange of emotion?"

Spike shrugged and continued watching TV. "Well, you never exactly let me get a word in."

Anya softened. "OK." She slid into his lap. "Tell me about the day of my blood sucking, bleached haired lover."

Spike wrapped an arm around her waist. "Drunk some blood, re-bleached my hair."

"Oh, I couldn't tell," Anya nodded.

"Really?" Spike rubbed his hair a little. "Does it have that natural look?"

"Yes. It doesn't look at all like it's been colored through a system of chemicals normally used to put the white back into clothing."

Spike just nodded as they sat in amused silent for a few seconds.

Anya finally spoke up, "I would now like to have a lip to lip, spit exchange of emotion."

"Of course." Spike leaned in towards her and they were soon joined in an adoring kiss.

          Angel held onto the left handle bar of Rachel's bike like he had done for nearly three blocks, making sure she didn't fall. Angel noted how cute she looked on the bright pink bike and matching helmet, smiling.

"Daddy, let go," Rachel finally said.

"Are you sure?" Angel asked, obvious concern in his voice.

"Let _go_," Rachel repeated, amused yet serious.

Angel finally released the handlebars and watched ride down the block by herself. "You're doing it!" he called, going after her.

Rachel looked back at him with a beam. "Yep." She turned her head back towards the front to see where she was going. "Wahoo!"

Angel went a little faster to keep up with the bike. "You're doing great, Chelly." Angel had picked up the girl's nickname quickly. Rachel suddenly turned a corner, speeding up ahead, and taking Angel by surprise. "Rachel!" He ran after her.

          Rachel kept going, her face filled with delight, her little body clearly loaded up with energy. She turned another block, once again, taking Angel by surprise. As the five-year-old rode down the new block she thought she saw what looked like something sparkling up ahead. Like any normal curious child she headed in its direction. Rachel made it to an alley, the shadow of blue flashing light came from it.

Rachel smiled in awe as Angel came up. She looked back and saw him. "Daddy, look!"

"Rachel," Angel started off sternly, glad that his chase after her was over. "Don't ever—"

Rachel's attention stayed on the light. "Daddy, isn't it pretty?"

"Isn't what pretty?" Angel looked at her direction but saw nothing.

Rachel blinked her eyes. "Oh... I guess it went bye-bye," she pouted.

Angel picked her up off the bike and made her look into his brown eyes. "You know better than to run off from me or anyone else like that." Rachel continued to pout. "Now come on. We're going home."

"But what about my riding lesson?" Rachel asked in her best baby voice.

Angel sighed. He knew he had to stay firm, at least he assumed as much. "We're going home," he told her again. "And when we get there it is bedtime for you."

          Rachel didn't respond as Angel carried her with one arm and rolled her bike with the other. She stayed quiet as they walked along the block and Angel assumed that she was upset like any normal child would be when they were having fun and suddenly it gets taken away from them.

"I'm sorry, honey," Angel apologized to her. "I know you're upset but you can't take off on me like that."

"Huh?" Rachel suddenly responded inattentively. "Oh, I won't. I'm sorry."

Angel kissed her hair and kept walking. Rachel continued to stare at the alley as they left it, wondering about the disappearing light that she had found so pretty.

A/N: It's late night and I'm up finishing this because I am just that bored. Please review.


	4. Chapter 4 Don't Go Towards The Light

        **TRYING THIS AGAIN**

NOTE: I don't own Angel or Buffy but I will gladly take position of them if Joss ever takes the big plunge.

A/N: I came up with this story talking to one of my friends. It just hit me in the head somehow. Anyway, here's the rundown. This takes place during what _should_ be the eighth season of Buffy and the fifth season of Angel. Angel finally succeeds in saving the world so he is given the chance of a lifetime and I don't just mean W&H law offices. You'll see. Well, please enjoy.

                                        CHAPTER 4 

Leah brushed her long, chestnut brown hair, standing in front of her full-length mirror. Looking into it she got a good look at herself: short, pale complexioned teenager with a hint of red in her cheeks. She had spent most of that afternoon locked in her room, trying to study. But somehow she had found time to grumble about her pain in the neck father. Leah clicked off the light and crawled into bed, stomach down, snuggled under the blanket, gripping her teddy bear, one her father had given her.

She had only been asleep for a few minutes before opening her eyes to the inky darkness; idly she wondered what exactly had just woken her up. Leah glanced towards her window and saw what looked like a burning, blue light, almost like the hottest part of the fire around the edges.. Climbing out of her bed, she slowly went towards the window, the light reflecting off her blue eyes.

"Ooh, pretty," she whispered in awe. In the blink of an eye the light was gone again. "Ooh, not so pretty."

         The next morning Wesley, Willow, and Leah sat around the kitchen. Willow buttered some toast at the stove; Wesley did his usual of drinking coffee and reading the newspapers. Leah sat quietly, eating a bowl of cereal, no milk, thinking about the previous night.

"Hey, Mum, Dad?" Willow and Wesley turned their attention to her. "Just out of curious, did either of you happen to notice a really, really gorgeous light outside last night? I mean when I first saw it I..." Leah noticed she was getting funny looks from them. "Right. It was, um, a car... I think."

"Honey, maybe you should go to bed early tonight," Willow said, taking a seat at the table with her toast.

"Yes, I agree," Wesley nodded slowly.

Leah also nodded. "Yeah, but too bad _that's_ out of the question this afternoon. I have baby-sitting duty at Buffy and Angel's house. Aunt Buff said he's been acting kinda weird so she's taking him somewhere or whatever. But I'm thinking she's taking him to a hotel to get their freak on."

Wesley turned away from his breakfast and stared daggers at her.

Willow hid a smile.

"Leah Dana Whydham-Pryce," Wesley chided, clearly not amused by her word choice.

"I... I... uh..." Leah squirmed in her seat. "Not that I know anything about that kind of thing." She chuckled nervously. "You know. I'm just a little girl after all." Leah smiled so innocently a halo could have appeared over her head.

"I better not ever hear such things coming out of your mouth again," Wesley warned.

Usually Leah would argue but she knew how Wesley could be when it came to talking about sex. In his mind she would always be his sweet, innocent little virgin, but of course if she had in her way, some devilishly handsome man would sweep her off her feet and they would leave the Hellmouth for more exciting activities.

Leah arrived at the Angel household later that afternoon; headphones placed on her ears, blasting the usual music, a mix of pop, rock, and punk. Buffy invited her in, gave her the usual rules and numbers before practically dragging Angel out of the house.

Leah turned to Rachel, who sat on the living room couch, watching TV. "Hey, Chelly," Leah smiled, using Lorne's name for the little girl. She took the headphones off her ears and shut her CD player off. "What are you up for?"

Rachel shrugged. "Nothing."

Leah shrugged as well. "Fine then." She put back on the headphones, switched on the music, and danced her way into the kitchen to see what tasty items Buffy and Angel had left for her in the fridge.

Angel and Buffy walked down the streets of their neighborhood, Buffy with her arm slipped through his. Angel's eyes floated around to things that he seemed to know, yet didn't. He remained quiet, as did Buffy.

"All right," Buffy said, finally breaking the silence. "Angel, let me try out this honesty thing. I'm worried about you."

Angel looked down at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just that ever since that night we went patrolling you've been..." Buffy trailed off as they sat down on a bench in the park. "You've been kind of nutty-esque. I know that's normal for you but not this much."

"A lot has been happening," Angel sighed.

Buffy sat on one of her knees on the bench, looking at him, her elbow resting on the head of the bench. "Like what? Things are as normal as Sunnydale gets, it's almost boring."

"That's just it. What am I doing in Sunnydale?"

"Here we go with _this_ again," Buffy groaned.

"Yes, _this_!" Angel suddenly snapped, standing up. "None of this is supposed to be this way. You're not supposed to be here, we don't have Rachel, we don't have this big, flashy business, nothing is right!"

Buffy stood as well. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Angel ignored her and continued his rant. "I don't understand it! These things don't happen to me, no matter what good I do."

"Not so much with the sane are you, Angel?" Buffy asked him, giving him a skeptical look.

"You're not listening!" Angel shouted at her.

"Now you're yelling at me. Oh, yeah, we're definitely married," Buffy said nonchalantly. Angel turned away from her then. Buffy sighed. "Look, I'm sorry." She gave him a little hug from the back. "I know you're going through a thing but I can't exactly help unless you tell me what's going on." She thought humor was in order then. "Or, you know, I could always have Willow teach me the magical, mind reading thing. That always could be fun."

Angel turned back to her, a hint of a smile on his face. "This is real, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Buffy humored him. "I'm going to say it is."  
  
Angel suddenly leaned in and kissed her.

Buffy, taken by surprise, kissed him back.

Across the street Spike and Anya walked, Spike's arm around her waist. They watched the kissing couple as they passed by the park.

"Those two are disgusting," Anya commented.

"Rather," Spike added.

"Look at them, making out in public like that... and enjoying it _so_ much." Anya turned to him with a serious expression on her face. "Can we do that later?"

"Yeah, sure," Spike shrugged as they continued to walk.

Cordelia sat in her living room in an armchair, a large photo album propped up on top of her belly. She flipped through it slowly, page by page. Cordelia turned to the first page again.

"OK, baby, Mommy has a new story for you," she said to her belly sweetly. Cordelia looked at the photo album again. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful cheerleader who lived in Sunnydale and could have any boy she wanted. Then one day she met a complete dork but fell for him nonetheless. Anyway, another day the beautiful cheerleader and the complete dork broke up, leaving the complete dork in heartache. The beautiful cheerleader, who wasn't a cheerleader anymore, moved to LA, killed a bunch of vamps, came _back_ to Sunnydale and married the complete dork, who wasn't a _complete_ dork anymore and they lived happily ever after." Cordy showed her belly a picture of Xander and herself smiling under a doorway. "The end." She rubbed her stomach lovingly. "Did you like that? You want to hear the one about the cheerleader winning team captain?"

Before Cordelia had a chance to go wander through memory lane, she suddenly gasped as a vision hit. Behind her eyes she saw what looked like a form of light flashing but that was it. The vision ended quickly before she could get a good look at anything. Xander entered the living room to see the iris of Cordelia's eyes go from white to brown. He rushed over to her.

"Cordy, what was it?" Xander questioned. "A vision? Come on, talk to me."

"Uh, give me a chance to actually answer you," she said, looking at him crossly. "Yeah, it was a vision but I'm thinking it was a gag or something."

Xander looked confused and blinked a few times. "What?" he finally said.

"It was a practical joke, it had to be," Cordelia told him again. "There was this flashy stuff and then... _more_ flashy stuff. And then it went dark, sort of like a movie theater."

"Oh." He shrugged. "I guess it was. That's happened before, right?"

"Bogus visions? Yeah, I guess so. Maybe the Powers that sit on their asses all day while other people do their jobs are losing their minds."

"Probably." Xander softened and put a gentle hand to her arm. "Are you hungry? You need anything?"

"Uh, cookies would be good," Cordelia replied, her crossness instantly forgotten, both with her husband and the lousy powers that be. Xander nodded and headed towards the kitchen. "Nothing with cherry!" she called after him. Turning back to her stomach and the photo album, Cordelia smiled softly. "Now where was I? Oh, right. Well, the auditions for cheerleader captain were tight but the beautiful cheerleader _knew_ she could do it."

Rachel bounced around the living room, pretty hyper since Leah had given her six scoops of ice cream with sprinkles. Leah sat on the couch, watching the younger girl jump around, eating the ice cream she had prepared for herself.

"Hey, Chelly, exactly how much of a sugar rush can you get?" Leah asked.

"I don't know!" Rachel replied loudly, jumping as she said each word. Jumping into a chair, she then leapt over to the couch. "Whoop!"

Leah looked startled. "Um, Rachel, turn it down a notch, 'kay?"

Rachel ignored her and started jumping everywhere in the room, running out of it. "Yee-haw!"

Leah shook her head and ran after her. "Rachel! Hold up." She heard something smash then ran into the dining room, only to see that Rachel had accidentally broken some type of large lamp.

Leah groaned, swore softly, and continued after Rachel. As she ran she wondered who would be in the most trouble. Rachel, for being destructive or Leah, for giving her the sugar that _made_ the five year old so destructive. Leah eventually tracked Rachel down into the basement.

"Rachel, I—" Leah started. She stared down at Rachel, who seemed to be focused on something. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

Rachel pointed at a corner of the basement. "Look," she said softly.

Leah's eyes followed the little girl's finger and looked over towards the corner Rachel pointed at. Something seemed to radiate from it and slowly another blue, sparkling light formed. The teenager slowly took a step towards it but the light flashed directly into her eyes, nearly blinding her for a couple of seconds and pushing her back. Rachel gasped. Leah picked her up and ran towards the stairs.

"Come on, Rachel," Leah panicked. "We have to find Aunt Buff and Uncle Angel," she said, still using the aunt and uncle names she had given them when she was younger, and the only child.

As Leah and Rachel made it back up to the living room they saw Angel and Buffy walk through the front door. Buffy smiled when she saw Leah come up, Rachel in her arms.

"Hey, thanks for watching her," the slayer said then got a good look at Leah's face. "She wasn't _that_ bad was she?"

"Guys," Leah panted. "There's something down there."

"Down where?" Buffy asked her.

"Basement!" Leah exclaimed, setting Rachel down gently.

Buffy still looked confused as she turned to Angel. "I'll go check it out. You stay with them." She headed in the direction of the basement.

Rachel went over to Angel's legs. "The pretty light scared me."

Angel looked down and felt an instinct to pick her up. "It's OK," he attempted to sooth, albeit awkwardly. 

Rachel hugged him around the neck a little. "Glad you're home, Daddy."

Buffy walked back up to the small group then. "All I saw was a broken lamp, nothing else." She raised an eyebrow at Leah and Rachel. Leah silently pointed at Rachel. "Rachel..."

"It was an accident," Rachel whispered into Angel's shirt.

"We can get a new lamp," Angel suggested to Buffy, patting Rachel's back every minute or so.

"Fine," Buffy shrugged but was surprised at Angel's firmness towards her.

A/N: This chapter was supposed to be here sooner but something is wrong with my Microsoft Word. So you have to review me because I'm really sad about that. But I want to thank my friend Pyro Bear for editing this for me. *Gives Pyro cookie*


	5. Chapter 5 Broody JR

   TRYING THIS AGAIN

NOTE: I don't own Angel or Buffy but I will gladly take position of them if Joss ever takes the big plunge.

A/N: I came up with this story talking to one of my friends. It just hit me in the head somehow. Anyway, here's the rundown. This takes place during what _should_ be the eighth season of Buffy and the fifth season of Angel. Angel finally succeeds in saving the world so he is given the chance of a lifetime and I don't just mean W&H law offices. You'll see. Well, please enjoy.

                                                CHAPTER 5 

          Gunn lay on the couch in the living room on his back while Natalie bounced on his stomach. He had spent the entire day with the little girl and she had been doing a very good job of driving him insane, as per usual.

"Nat, you going to sleep anytime soon?" Gunn asked her as she continued to bounce.

"Nope," Natalie replied bluntly, still bouncing.

"Let me rephrase that," Gunn said, sitting up, making her tumble into his lap. "How 'bout you go to bed... _now_."

Natalie considered it for a moment. "Nope," she said again and started to bounce.

 Gunn simply raised an eyebrow. "What'd you say?" he asked her in what Natalie referred to as the 'Daddy Voice'.

Natalie instantly stopped bouncing in his lap and looked up at him, smiling brightly. "I said it's time for bed," she chirped,

"That's what I thought you said," Gunn smirked, lifting her up.

          Natalie stalled going to bed as long as she could, which included changing her mind about which pajamas she wanted to wear, wanting a glass of water, and then having to go to the bathroom. When Gunn finally was able to get her into bed she just stared up at the ceiling, grumpily.

          The four-year-old girl glanced around at different objects in her room, mostly toys that she would only want to play with at bedtime. Natalie's eyes drifted over to her night light, which seemed to be burning brighter than usual. In fact it began to burn so brightly, that it turned from a pearly white to a pale blue. The light in her room spread father and father until the blue light soon bathed everything. Natalie shrieked and pulled the covers over her head before she could feel the blue light come towards her. She then decided to get her parents.

          Fred and Gunn sat in the living room, snuggled up, glad to finally have some alone time. Then Natalie raced down the stairs and into the living room, a frantic look on her face.

          "Mama, Daddy, something's wrong!" she cried.

"Nat, honey, calm down," said Fred gently.

         "Go back to bed, girl," Gunn said with a roll of his eyes, she hadn't even been in bed ten minutes.

"No! Something's wrong. My night light's broken," Natalie tried to explain.

Fred looked towards Gunn.

He sighed. "I swear _something_ better be wrong with that light." Gunn stood and proceeded up the stairs and into Natalie's room.

Fred reached out to Natalie and pulled her into her lap and began to gently stroke her hair. Even though Natalie was the master of staying up late, Fred had to feel for her. She just looked so frightened. Gunn soon rejoined them.

"She was right," he said. "The bulb on that night light blew out."

          "Probably all the blue light," Natalie muttered.

         Fred and Gunn exchanged a confused look.

         Fred pulled Natalie out to meet her eyes. "Baby, you want to sleep in our bed tonight?"

          Natalie nodded quickly. "Uh huh."

          Gunn groaned softly to himself. Would he get any peace?

          Buffy pulled back the blanket off the bed and climbed in with Angel. Buffy noted how he had been acting a little more like himself most of the evening. Angel, who wasn't really tired, just stared down at the blanket he was under.

          "What are you thinking?" Buffy asked him softly.

          Angel looked over at her. "What?"

          "That's your thinking look," she explained.

          "Oh." Angel turned on his side and looked at her. "I believe you. I really _want_ to believe that you're real, that Rachel's real, and that Leah is real. But it all seems like it's just going to... vanish."

Buffy nodded her head slowly. "I would say that you're going through a midlife crisis, you know, if you weren't ancient and all but I really do think you have a problem. Something up with your psyche maybe."

         "It's just that every time I look at you and then at Rachel I think about the one person who's not here," Angel said in a low voice.

"Dawn?" Buffy asked, a confused expression on her face. "Angel she _will_ be back before the summer is over."

Angel stared at her strangely. "No. I mean... I mean... my son."

          "Oh!" Buffy finally realized. "You're worried about Connor."

          Angel sat up suddenly, his eyes focused on her. "You know about Connor?"

         "The word duh comes to mind," Buffy replied, also sitting up. "Our thirteen-year-old son? We shipped him off to sleep away camp. That way he can enjoy the summer and we... can be miles away from him and Rachel fighting."

"Connor's here?" Angel nearly exclaimed. "Now? We have to go see him."

          "Angel, relax. He's fine. In fact we go to pick him up in a couple days."

          "No." Angel shook his head. "I have to see him. Tomorrow."

          Buffy sighed and started to play with his hair. "Will that make you... less with the insanity?"

         "I'll try," Angel said, his voice just above a whisper.

"Then we'll go get him, bring him home," Buffy promised, still messing with his hair.

          "Thank you." Angel planted a light kiss on her lips. "Don't touch the hair," he said, lifting her hand off the top of his head.

          "Anytime... I think."

                   That next morning, a Sunday, Buffy dialed Connor's camp, saying that they wanted him home due to a family emergency. Both Angel and Buffy climbed into the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Buffy in the driver's seat. Rachel sat in the back, rocking back and forth. Buffy drove the miles down, leading to the camp, going what Angel referred to more than once as Grandma speed.

          Once there, Buffy went into the camp's office to collect Connor. An apprehensive Angel stood out by the car next to Rachel. He was pleasantly surprised that he was not bursting into flames. But then again, he hadn't when going to the car earlier that morning, but he was preoccupied in seeing his son. Soon Buffy walked up, carrying a suitcase. A short, brown haired boy walked up behind her, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, with a sleeping bag in his hand.

Angel quickly got the scent of who it was and rushed over, grabbing Connor in a tight embrace. "Connor, it's you," was all he said.

          "Whoa. D-Dad, too tight, breathing an issue here!" Connor exclaimed.

          Angel released him then with a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that." He looked him over. "You look good, son."

          Connor slowly nodded. "Uh, thanks. You, too." He went over to the back of the car and tossed his stuff in. "So whom do I thank for getting me out of this crap hole?"

          Buffy pointed at Angel. "That would be him," she said, and then she tacked on, "Don't swear."

          Connor hopped on top of the car. "Thanks, Dad. I owe you one."

          "What happened?" Rachel asked Connor, referring to the camp.

          "Nothing worth writing home about," Connor replied, looking down at her. "Hey, small and plenty."

          "Hey, big and skinny," Rachel shot back.

          "And there they go again," Buffy sighed, slipping on a pair of shades.

         Over at the Magic Charm Leah stood next to Willow stacking a new shipment of books into one of the bookshelves, which stood directly above the entrance of the store.

          "Mum," Leah called, glancing at the cover of one of the books. "What are E-ro-ha demons?"

          "They're corny. Eroha wondered through the earth a couple hundred years ago and drunk the brain juice of humans." Leah gave her a funny look. "What? I said they wore corny."

          "Well, look who it is," Spike's voice sounded.

         Leah and Willow walked over to the banister and looked down on the store. Angel, Buffy, and Rachel had just walked in with Connor.

         "Oh, no," Leah groaned, walking down the stairs to the main part of the store. "Who released you, freak boy?"

          "Cute," Connor said dryly. "You know the only thing that gave me hope while I was at camp was the thought of you _not_ being here when I got back."

         Leah approached him. "Well, you know, I could always make you disappear by _accident_. I'm pretty sure we'd all be a lot better off."

          "You two are like brother and sister," Giles commented from behind the cash register.

          "Thanks for the imagery," Leah said as Connor reacted with a "Gross!"

          "Welcome home, Connor," Willow called down from where she still stood, looking down at them.

          "Thanks, Aunt Will," Connor called back to her, going to roam around the store.

          "Mum, you're kind of a traitor to the We Hate Connor Club," Leah grumbled.

          "Wasn't Broody Jr. supposed to come home tomorrow?" Spike asked.

          "Yeah, but, Angel kind of wanted to see him," Buffy explained.

         "Oh, what's the matter, Peaches?" Spike said to Angel. "Missed your baby? Needed a little male bonding?"

          Angel ignored the bleached vampire and went over to sit on the couch.

         "Be nice," Buffy hissed at Spike, going up to the counter. "He's going through a thing."

          "How sad," Spike said dryly, pretending to wipe away a tear.

          Rachel went up and hopped on the counter next to Spike. "Hey, Uncle Spike, you're kinda mean."

          Spike leaned against her. "Figured that out all by yourself did ya?"

         "So are you remembering anything?" Angel asked Connor quietly.

          Connor looked at him funny. "Remember what?"

          "Anything? About Quor-toth, Holtz..." Angel trailed off, noticing the confused looks he was getting from Connor. "Getting kidnapped?"

          "Dad, you been taking those red pills again?" Connor asked him. 

          Angel shook his head. "No. What about Darla?"

         "My birth mother? Nope. I don't know much about her. You won't let me, but if you're willing to divulge info…" Connor shrugged.

          "Never mind," Angel said quickly. "What about Buffy?" he changed the subject to a much safer one.

          "She's adopted mother. Are you going to make me write a biography or something?"

          "No." Angel slowly reached out and touched Connor's hair, playing with it a little. "Everything's fine." He pulled Connor into a tight embrace.

          "Great," Connor choked out. "Let go now." He stood quickly and patted his hair back into place.

A/N: I know you guys are going to have some questions on Connor and I don't feel like answering them so let me give you the gist. Since this is Angel's new life Connor was never kidnapped by Wesley or anything like that. That's all you need to know I think. Now thanks goes out to Pyro Bear once again for being a major help. Please review.


	6. Chapter 6 Reproduce

                                TRYING THIS AGAIN

NOTE: I don't own Angel or Buffy but I will gladly take claim of them if Joss ever takes the big plunge.

A/N: I'd like to thank you guys for the reviews that I have gotten so far. Also I want to thank Pyro Bear for helping me so much with this story. Thanks!

                                              CHAPTER 6 
    
            The next day in the Magic Charm Anya sat in an armchair across from Cordelia. Spike stood behind the register, allowing Anya to take a break, even though it wasn't much of one, she kept scampering over to the register every few moments. Buffy entered the store with Rachel as Leah and Giles headed down the stairs from the library.

"Hey," Buffy greeted them.

"Hi-yo," Rachel waved.

Spike looked up then. "Where's the poofster?" he asked the slayer.

"Spending time with Connor," Buffy replied, joining Spike behind the register. She looked over at Leah. "You've been around here a lot lately."

The teenager scowled for a moment before brightening. "Nothing like a break from Dad," Leah smiled.

"I thought you said you were here to help us with the new shipments," Giles reminded her.

"Oh... well... no offense, Pop," Leah stumbled, using the nickname all of the kids had picked up on from Rachel. "But a girl can only study so much."

Anya turned to Cordelia. "What's it like being pregnant?" the vengeance demon asked her. Leah smiled at the demon's impecable timing.

Cordelia patted her stomach. "Ever since this kid popped in an apple pie Xander's been so sweet and nurturing. He's been so good through all the mood swing and the bloading and the cramps—"

"And pretty much the way you are all the time?" Buffy chimed in.

Cordelia gave Buffy a dirty look before going back to Anya. "I just love being pregnant. I really need to do it again."

Anya nodded. "Right. It must be wonderful to be a soon to be mother." Cordelia beamed. "Never mind the achingly, agonizing, death preferring pain of producing another living being who will only use your body for nurishment once its born and drain you of all your money and slowly but steadily take away all of your youth and beauty."

Cordelia nodded again. "Right..." She rubbed her stomach and turned away from Anya, her beam replaced with an apprehensive look.

Anya went over to Spike and hugged his arm. "I want us to reproduce," she said.

Spike looked at her, a mixture of confusion and shock on his face. "What?"

Anya pulled him out to look at her eye to eye. She ran a finger down his black t-shirt as she spoke. "I want you to impregnate me so that we may have our own hell spawn running around and wreaking havoc just like we did. Plus it'll give us a _huge_ break at tax time."

Spike just stood there stunned, not knowing what to say.

Leah giggled, as did Buffy.
    
    Giles removed his glassed and mutterance of  "Oh, dear," could be heard.

A look of curiosity crossed Rachel's face and she jumped onto the counter and looked at Buffy. "Mommy, what does impregnate mean?"

Buffy quickly picked Rachel up and headed towards the library. "Come on, baby. It's not nice to listen to other people's conversations." Buffy sat down on the couch Anya had been on. Cordelia still looked like a nervous wreck, thanks to Anya.

"Well...?" Anya nudged Spike, waiting on him to answer.

"Anya, luv, it's a nice thought but neither of us know the first thing about children," Spike reminded her, obvious apprehension in his voice.

"Actually I granted the wishes of teenaged girls and you..." Anya thought for a moment. "You slaughtered and molessed them."
    
    Leah shot a nervous look first to Spike and the to Giles. Slowly she inched closer to the former watcher.

Buffy looked over at the demon couple. "Hey, Spike, I got a way you can practice. Why don't you watch Rachel tomorrow? She and Connor haven't been so much with the brother and sister love since he got home."

"Hold it, slayer," Spike started. "I—"

"He'll do it," Anya answered with a bright smile.

"What  about you?" Spike asked her.

Anya put a hand on her hip and looked at him. "Hey, I already got what I need to know."

"Come on, Spike," said Buffy. "If Anya wants a baby then you need to bone up on the history a little."

Rachel tapped her mother on the arm. "Mommy, it's not nice to listen to other people's conversations."

          Angel sat on a bench with Connor, who instead sat on the back of it. They both faced forward looking out at all the people with their children. Some were laughing, talking, just enjoying their time together. The sun blazed brightly up above, only adding to the beauty of it all.

"Look at it, Connor," Angel whispered. "Isn't it breath taking."

"Yes, it's all... neat," Connor replied dryly. He looked at Angel. "Dad, what the hell are we doing here?"

Angel looked down at him with a raised eyebrow. "Language, Connor. Plus we're here to, you know, be together."

"Is this your way of telling me that you're going to break it down to Rachel that I'm your favorite child?" Connor asked seriously.

"No." Angel shook his head. "Just forget it."

Connor stood up and looked at his father closely. "Look I'm sorry. But you're acting kind of weird."

"I'm sorry," Angel murmured, turning his attention back to the other families in the park. "All of this just seems so new to me."

Connor shrugged. "Those red pills are probably finally getting to you. You do realize that you're only supposed to take them with food and not wine or beer?"

Angel glanced at him, a new instict running through him. He suddenly reached out and grabbed Connor, immediately messing his hair. Connor struggled wildly in Angel's grasp, actually managing to break free, mostly because Angel let him.

"What's in those pills exactly?" Connor asked, trying to fix his hair.

Angel shrugged casually. "Super human reflexes," he told him, then looked over at Connor, a spark of mischief in his eyes.

Connor held up his hands as a way of backing Angel off. "Oh, no... Dad, come on."

"Let's see how well those pills work." Angel smirked and started to grab Connor again.

          Connor suddenly turned and bolted away from him. Angel kept his smirk and went after him, allowing Connor to get a good distance away from him. Connor made his way into the wooded area of the park, turning to see if Angel was behind him but saw nothing. As Connor released a relieved sigh he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Whoa!" Connor gasped, surprised to see Angel.

"Gotcha now." Angel pulled Connor into a head lock and started tossing his hair wildly.

Connor groaned and grunted, trying to hide how funny he thought it was. "Ugh... err... Dad!"

After a couple minutes Angel finally released him. "That was fun."

"You tried to kill me," Connor said. "I'm calling child services when we get home."

"Don't wait," Angel handed his son his cell phone. "They can take you as long as they leave Rachel."

Conner sneered, "See that's not even cute."

"I thought it was," Angel said and started to walk.

Connor followed him. "Of course _you_ also think black in the summertime is a fashion statement." Angel got that look in his eyes again. "Uh-oh." Connor raced off then, Angel playfully running after him.

          Connor suddenly stopped running and gasped. His blues eyes flashed in the sunlight, burning brightly. The blue in his eyes started to glow brighter, causing a ray of bright, blue light to come from them. Connor covered his eyes and groaned.

Angel walked up, a look of concern on his face. "Connor?" He put a hand to his back. "Are you all right?" Connor just shook his head, his eyes still covered. "Let me see."

Connor slowly removed his hands, revealing that his eyes had gone back to normal. "What happened?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. You all right?"

Connor nodded. "Yeah."

"Good," Angel smirked, and grabbed him in another head lock.

"Hey, unfair!" Connor shouted.

"Remember, Spike," Buffy said, going over rules of Rachel with him. "Do not, and I repeat, do not let her have an overload of sweets or anything with sugar related substance."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Buffy, in case you forgot, I have watched this child before."

"Barely," Buffy reminded him. "Plus the last time you did was three months ago. I'm just refreshing you here."

"Why am I doing this again?" Spike asked with a sigh.

"Because you love me," Anya whispered into his ear all too sweetly.

"Of course," Spike sighed again.

Giles gently pulled Buffy aside. "Buffy, do you think it's wise to encourage a child between those two?"

"Giles, come on," said Buffy. "Anya always wants something new and shiny. Plus Spike can't even have kids."

Giles raised an eyebrow. "Like Angel?"

Buffy fidgeted a little. He had a point. "Well, _Angel_ is a different kind of vamp. He's... a little bump to the head will make him all crazy vamp."

Giles looked confused. "What does that have to do with—?"

"Wesley!" Buffy called, getting Giles's attention off her, as the former watcher came in. "Hey, hi, how are you?"

Wesley glanced over at the blonde slayer. "Fine," he replied, slightly suspicious of her friendliness.

Leah headed down the stairs of the library but quickly spotted her father. "Shoot!" She ran back up.

Wesley still looked at Buffy as he said, "I came to get..." He pointed towards the stairs. "_Her_. Come down here, Leah."

"She's not home!" Leah called.

"Leah Alexandria..." Wesley stretched her name.
    
    Leah groaned and trudged down the stairs. "Hello, Father," she greeted dryly, she tried to stress the slight British accent she had aquired around Spike, Giles, and her father.

"What's going on?" Giles inquired.

"Little Willow here tried to pull a fast one," Wesley said, gesturing towards his daughter.

"No, I didn't!" Leah defended herself. "I said I was coming here. I was _so_ telling the truth. And don't call me that"

"I know how you work," Wesley said, turning to her, totally ignoring his daughter's comment about herself "You stay here for about an hour and then go to the mall or wherever."

"Well..." Leah trailed off. "Yes. But I like that plan. Let's stick with it."

Wesley gave her one of his looks. "Let's not."

Leah groaned and grabbed her jacket. Would her father ever be easy to fool?

A/N: I'm really sorry if this chapter sucked. I don't know why but I was uninspired for it. The next one will be better, promise. It could be even better with the right amount of reviews... *Hint*


	7. Chapter 7 Good Morning

  TRYING THIS AGAIN

NOTE: I don't own Angel or Buffy but I will gladly take claim of them if Joss ever takes the big plunge.

A/N: I'd like to thank you guys for the reviews that I have gotten so far. Also I want to thank Pyro Bear for helping me so much with this story. Thanks!

                                                  CHAPTER 7 

          The sun peeked through the curtains of Buffy and Angel's bedroom, shining down on the blonde slayer as her eyes opened. Buffy rolled over on her stomach, her hand reaching over to where she would usually cuddle with Angel but found out that the spot was empty. Buffy sat up, confused.

          After changing clothes she headed downstairs to the kitchen and saw Angel standing at the sink, drinking a cup of hot coffee. Connor and Rachel sat at opposite ends of the kitchen table, both with breakfast in front of them.

"Uh, good morning," Buffy greeted the three of them, not really knowing how to take the familiar image that had been missing ever since Angel had gotten hit in the head.

Angel turned around and gave her a soft smile. "Hey. Good morning."

Buffy glanced towards the kids, who were busily stuffing their faces. "What's going on?" Buffy asked.

"I made breakfast for the kids," Angel explained. "I woke up early and I wanted to let you sleep."

Buffy considered it all for a moment before smiling. "Thanks, Angel." She planted a light kiss on his lips. Before she could pull away Angel wrapped an arm around her waist and went deeper into the kiss.

"Ugh," Connor groaned in disgust. "Excuse me but some people are trying to hold their breakfasts down."

Angel slowly pulled away from Buffy, turning to face his son. "It's OK. You're not bothering us," Angel smirked at him.

Buffy noticed something then went over to Rachel's chair and knelt down. "Honey, are you eating cocoa puffs, pop tarts, and chocolate chip muffins?"

"Yep," Rachel replied with a smile as she shoved a large spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

"Uh huh," Buffy nodded, going back over to Angel. "God, Angel, why did you give her all those sweets?" the slayer hissed. "Now she's going to be all big with the hyper and drive Spike insane... more than usual."

A smirk spread across Angel's face as he said, "Really?"

Buffy smiled, also enjoying the image of Rachel annoying the blonde vampire but had to cover her amusement because of her motherly obligations. "Angel, stop it," Buffy said, trying to hide the smile.

"I'm just kidding," Angel assured her then went over and knelt down in front of Rachel. "Now you know to be good today, right?"

Rachel thought for a moment then looked at him. "Right."

Angel grinned and lifted her up into the air. "Right?" he said again.

"Right!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Right?" Angel asked again, putting the little girl on his shoulders as he began to twirl her around.

"Right!" Rachel giggled wildly.

          Buffy could not help but smile at them as she grabbed a chocolate chip muffin for herself. They could both be very child like at times and she seemed to enjoy every minute of it, usually, anyway.

          Wesley and Willow both sat in their living room that morning. Wesley sat on the couch watching some sort of early morning cartoon and Willow sat at the coffee table, reading over a spell book. The quiet they had, despite the TV, was soon interrupted by Leah heading towards the front door.

"Halt," Wesley said firmly without even looking in Leah's direction. Leah stomped her feet childishly then turned to look at him. "Where are you going?"

"Dad, look, this may be hard to figure out but summer vacate is nearly over and I don't want to waste it being stuck in my room with my nose planted in a book," Leah said as if doing so would be the most ridiculous thing in the world.

"There is nothing wrong with that," Willow chimed in defensively, getting herself a look from her husband and daughter. "Not that I would know," she said sheepishly before turning back to her book.

Leah shook her head then turned back to Wesley. "Come on, Dad. Just let me have some fun, a little emancipation. See? That's a big word. I _know_ big words."

Wesley had to smile at her, his daughter having natural charms about her. "I don't know..." he still responded undecidedly.

Leah decided to use the one method she knew would work and went over to the couch, took a seat right next to her dad, and hugged his arm. "Please, Daddy? Pretty please with a cherry on top?" Leah begged, her eyes filled with innocence and her lower lip sticking out.

Wesley crumbled immediately and patted her brown haired head. "All right, fine. You can go. Have fun," he sighed, hating his soft ways.

Leah smiled brightly and gave him a quick hug around the neck before racing to the door. "Thank you, Daddy!"

"Be home by curfew!" Willow called after her.

"OK!" Leah called back, before closing the door behind her.

Willow sighed deeply and went back to her book saying, "I hate it when I have to get tough with her."

Wesley did the traditional roll of his eyes followed by a shake of his head.

          Natalie sat on a stool in the middle of the kitchen, a large pout on her face. She peered down at Fred, who sat on her knees scrubbing away at a large pot of oatmeal, which Natalie had spilt over. When Gunn entered the kitchen, Natalie hopped down from the stool and jumped into his arms.

"Mama's in a mood," she whispered to her dad. "Don't bug her." 

Gunn smirked at her. "Wonder why she's in a mood."

Natalie shrugged and smiled cutely, "I don't know."

"Come on," Gunn said, carrying Natalie out of the room. "Let's go on a nice, _long_ drive." 

Buffy pulled up in front of Spike's building a little later that morning. She and Rachel took the elevator up to Spike's apartment, Buffy knocking on the door. Spike appeared at the door a few moments later.

"Hey," he greeted plainly and softly.

"Hey," Buffy returned the greeting, using the same tone he did.

"Hey-o," Rachel waved with a sweet smile on her face, obviously still with a sugar charge.

          Spike gestured for the two of them to come inside, Buffy glancing around at the small yet amazingly neat, considering it _was_ Spike, apartment.

"So..." Spike started, watching Rachel as she immediately began to hop around his living room. "When exactly will you be back?"

Buffy smirked at him and crossed her arms. "Around four. I'm going to get in some time at the store or something." Buffy's glance floated towards Rachel. "Hey." Rachel stopped her hopping for a moment before turning to her mother. "Behave," Buffy said to her simply.

Rachel nodded as if it were the simplest task in the world and started her hopping again. Spike shook his head, just _knowing_ that it would be a long day.

Later, in the afternoon, Leah, Connor, and a bunch of the grownups had all clustered to the Magic Charm. Leah and Connor shared the top step of the staircase the led up to the library, looking down on Giles, Buffy, and Lorne who were all down in the store.

"Adults," Leah remarked. "Look at them. They're all poofy and scattered like."

"Yeah," Connor agreed with a little nod. "Kind of like they're ready to pounce on something with their big brains and whatnot."

"Especially Poppy," said Leah. "I mean _look_ at him." She eyed Giles, who had his nose stuffed in a book. "He's all librarian like."

Connor glanced towards the other teenager. "Uh, he _is_ the librarian around here," he reminded her as if he were itching to say duh.

"Oh, right." Leah leaned against the step the two of them sat on and sighed. "Something is just... weird."

"What's with you?" Connor questioned.

Leah sat up straight, looking him in his blue eyes. "This is gonna sound like totally weird since I'm telling it to you but I'm having issues with this whole womanhood thing?"

Connor felt some sort of caring was in order as he asked, "What issues?"

"I thought being a woman meant turning twenty one and moving out from my dad."

Connor shrugged, "Wouldn't know."

"I know," Leah sighed. "But I'm serious, Connor. How do we know when we're, you know, official adults?"

"I don't know." Connor was also serious. "It's hard. Sometimes I want to be a man like my dad and next I want to be my own man. You get it?"

Leah nodded a little. "I think I do," she smiled softly.

"Aww." The two teens looked down to see Lorne. "You two are just a couple of cuties in a pod."

Leah and Connor shared a look of confusion. "Huh?"

"Well, it's quite obvious." They both glanced down at Giles. "You two do spend an awful lot of time together. One can only assume that you two..."

Leah stood up, insulted, and marched down the stairs. "All right. You caught us," she said. "We're a couple. Now if you excuse us, Connor and I are off to have hot monkey sex. Now leave us the bloody hell alone!" She growled before storming up to the library.

Connor watched her go before turning to the others. "Must be that time of month," he shrugged then went up to join Leah in the library.

Buffy shook her head, quite amused.

          Spike sat in the middle of the living room, clutching his head. For over a hundred years he had been through many stages of hell, all worse than the last; but he had never discovered something so disastrous as... children!

          The bleached blonde vampire watched as Rachel dashed all around Spike's apartment, hopping on furniture and doing small somersaults for no good reason. Why had he agreed to this? Spike wasn't a baby-sitter and he knew it.

"All right, luv," Spike finally said to the small child. "Let's calm down."

Rachel instantly stopped what she was doing and said, "No." Then she started jumping around again.

Spike sighed deeply. When would it end?

          The elevator doors of Spike's building pulled apart, releasing Anya. She rumaged around her purse for a moment. When she looked up again, Anya saw what looked as if the usually crisp white walls of the hall seemed to be painted pale blue. Anya looked back and saw that there was a burning blue light shining in the elevator. She stepped back towards the light, examining it.

          Suddenly the light glowed twice as bright and sent Anya crashing into a wall, like a punch to the gut. The vengeance demon scrambled to her feet before racing down the hall, heading for Spike's apartment. Anya looked back to see that the light was sort of following her and she speeded up.

          She pounded on Spike's apartment door for dear life, the light getting closer and closer upon her. It was like a deadly fire, spreading farther and farther.

"Spike!" Anya shouted, continuing to hit at the door.

Spike quickly appeared at the door. "Anya, I heard you the first bloody time. What is it?"

"What are you, blind?" Anya asked then pointed at the light behind her with her thumb. "Don't you see it?"

Spike blinked his eyes and asked, "See what?"

Anya looked behind her and only saw the regular hallway; no light at all. "I-I don't get it," Anya stammered. "There was this light and it was shiny and... and all burning like."

Spike wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her inside. "Let's get you inside, luv."

"I'm serious. It was... it was... bright!"

"I know," Spike patronized her then closed his front door.

A/N: I'm really sorry for not updating sooner. I'll make it up to you with a hug. Also I would like to thank my friend, Mel, for her help with this chapter. I also hope she reviews! And that goes for the rest of you, too.


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